Pictured Fran Stewart and Natasja De Gouveia Brazao

Yesterday was a big and emotional day for BARN. After 11 years at the helm, our President Natasja stepped down from her role at our AGM.

BARN would not be where it is today without Natasja and we are truly grateful for her leadership, strength, mentoring and friendship that she has so generously given to so many of us over the years. I have never met someone as dedicated and passionate about helping our wildlife as Natasja. She has saved countless lives over the years, and if they could talk I am sure all the animals would say a big thank you to her for showing care and compassion and providing a safe, warm, comfortable place while being rehabilitated.

BARN has accomplished a great deal over the years and certainly been presented with challenges and Natasja resiliently rode through it all, never giving up. She was an exceptional leader and will be greatly missed. Natasja has told me that she will miss it all and that it was a great honour working with myself, Fran and other members of BARN. Natasja also wanted me to mention how very appreciative she is of everyones help and support over the years as she could not have done it alone.

Onwards and upwards, Natasja will be off on new adventures and after a few emotional tears handed over her role to the newly elected Fran Stewart who has been a long time member of the committee previously as Secretary and Treasurer. I also stepped down from the role of Vice President as I found I wasn’t giving it the attention it deserves with 2 young toddlers filling up all my time and keeping me on my toes. Replacing me is newly elected Petrina Paidel who has also temporarily been elected to the role of Treasurer until a replacement can be found. And lastly Kirsty Thompson has been elected in to the role of Secretary, replacing Fran. A big warm welcome to our two new committee members and congratulations to Fran on being elected to the role of President. We know that BARN is being left in good hands and look forward to seeing what the future holds.

While attending rescues or interacting with members of the public I often get asked different questions about how people can help wildlife. Some questions have been “what can I feed wildlife?” and “how can I attract wildlife into my yard?”. Time and time again I have attended rescues where wildlife has become sick or injured as a direct result from humans. So I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to list different ways that we can help our native wildlife. The list will be by no means exhaustive or in a particular order and I welcome suggestions or ideas of what others are doing to help.

1. Be a responsible pet owner. Keep pets locked in at night.

2. Make your cat an indoor only cat and/or build a cat enclosure. Many animals come into care every year because of cat attacks. Our native wildlife often doesn’t stand a chance against this fierce predator. I own cats and they have never been outside. I don’t think they are missing out on anything and they are much safer inside with me.

3. Plant native trees. This is the best “food” that you can provide for our wildlife. Talk to your local nursery about what plant species are best at attracting wildlife. A few in my garden include Grevillea, Bottle Brush and Lilly Pily. Trees also provide shelter and a place to nest.

6. Install a nest box in your backyard. There is plenty of resources on the web for building a nest box and different shape/size will attract different animals. A quick google search can point you in the right direction for building a nest box suitable for bats or possums or birds etc.

7. Drive carefully in areas where wildlife is likely to be on the move, particularly at night as most of our native animals are nocturnal. If you accidentally hit something or see an animal thats been hit check the animal if it is safe to do so. Firstly, it may still be alive and in serious pain or second it may be a mother with young in the pouch. It is critical that if you have young in a pouch that you do not try to pull it off the teat, this can do irreparable damage to the young. Instead if possible take the mother and the young as one to a vet for assistance, or if this is not possible call for a wildlife carer or RSPCA to assist.

8. Try not to use herbicides or pesticides in the garden or other poisons such as ratsak in your home. I’ve seen many poison cases and its not always from direct ingestion, there is also the secondary effect where a poisoned rat/mouse becomes easy prey and in turn poisons the predator (e.g. Tawny Frogmouth, snake).

9. If you own a swimming pool consider hanging some rope into the water tied from a tree or pool fence so that any wildlife that falls in can easily climb out.

12. Appreciate wildlife from a distance. Don’t try to get too close or harass wildlife as this can cause them stress.

13. Educate your family and friends and teach them about how they can help the environment and our native wildlife.

14. If you want a wild animal as your pet ensure it has been captive breed and that you obtain the necessary permits. Don’t encourage the black market or steal from the wild. Remember it is illegal to take animals from the wild without a valid permit.

15. Avoid walking near trees where magpies are nesting or if unavoidable wear a helmet/hat with eyes painted on or carry an umbrella. Magpies are very defensive of their nest and can swoop if you get too close.

16. Always properly dispose of fishing line, hooks and gear.

17. If you or someone you know needs to cut down a tree, thoroughly check the tree before cutting and make sure no one is nesting in there.

18. Take care when mowing or whipper-snipping. Sometimes lizards or snakes etc aren’t quick enough to move out of the way, think about where the local reptiles like to hang out (sunbake) and make sure they can escape the mower blades.

Seeking people with:
• Their own transport plus money to cover the cost of petrol when attending rescues
• Their own mobile phone for contact with sufficient credit for calling/texting for rescues
• Regular time to devote to rescues across day and/or night
• A strong love of and compassion for animals/wildlife
• Physical capacity and confidence to catch/handle scared/injured animals
• Strong constitution for dealing with injured animals
• Self-confidence for dealing with members of the public, vets and wildlife carers
• Basic computer skills and access to email/Internet

The Brisbane Area Rescue Network (BARN) is seeking volunteers who wish to receive training to become rescuers across all areas of Brisbane, Sunshine and Gold Coasts plus surrounding areas.
Rescuers are a vital part of the voluntary team that operates 24/7 helping to respond to requests from the public who find injured and orphaned wildlife.

This role with BARN qualifies with CentreLink as approved voluntary work for Newstart recipients 55 years and over.

Training will be provided.

The role involves:
• Receiving details of requests from the public from the BARN phone operator
• Contacting the member of the public to confirm attendance to assist the wildlife
• Driving to the location (suitable rescue equipment, transport cage/s and protective PPE MUST be carried at all time)
• Assessing the situation and securing/picking up the injured wildlife
• Giving the member of the public a Thank You package from BARN for their care/concern
• Delivering injured wildlife to a suitable vet for treatment/euthanasia
• Organising a suitable carer and delivering orphaned wildlife to them
• Reporting the outcomes by email/text to BARN phone operator

If you would like to express interest in the role, please email us and provide:
• Your name and contact details (including email) plus the suburb you live in
• The days/times you would be available each week
• How far you would be happy to travel to a rescue
• Any relevant previous experience and/or training

There are many other ways you can assist BARN including becoming a carer, building possum/glider boxes, knitting/sewing marsupial pouches, picking up/delivering donations of cages and food etc. If you are interested in any of these roles we’d also value an email from you.